


Pride

by Fujiwara_no_Seimei



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-27
Updated: 2011-06-27
Packaged: 2017-10-20 19:17:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/216232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fujiwara_no_Seimei/pseuds/Fujiwara_no_Seimei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took talking to Kotetsu's daughter to make him realize he might be changing. (Barnaby, Kotetsu, and Kaede, post episode 13.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pride

“This place looks like a wreck, old man,” Barnaby said, the full extent of his lofty sneer concealed by the reflection of light against his glasses.  
Kotetsu sighed and shut the door behind them. “You didn’t have to come with me. I’m fine,” he said. He wondered what had happened to the ‘Kotetsu-san’ he’d earned the day before.

“What do you do in here?” Barnaby asked, hitting a beer can with his shoe by accident. “Besides never clean?”  
Kotetsu sat on his couch (flopped, rather, which was a dumb idea – he winced at the twinge of pain deep in his side) and waved his hand in the air, signaling Barnaby to get off it. “What any self-respecting Hero does in his spare time, Bunny. Drink.”  
“You’re not an alcoholic, are you?” Barnaby said, back stiffening.  
Kotetsu turned around, “Of course not! Give me a break!”

“What are you doing, anyway?” Barnaby asked, marching over to the couch. “You should be in bed. Resting.”  
Kotetsu flapped his hand at his partner again, “You’re a terrible nag, Bunny. I gotta call Kaede first.”  
“Kaede?” Barnaby said, realizing who it must be the moment he said it.  
“Mmm,” Kotetsu said as the screen popped up, reading “Calling.”  
“When was the last time you had any water?” Barnaby said, already walking over to the kitchenette. “It’s hot out, you’ll get dehydrated.”  
“Beer would hydrate me t- Kaede~chaaaaan!” he shouted, Barnaby ignoring him to fill a glass of water anyway.  
“Daddy? How are you? Are you okay? Did you get hurt by any explosions?”  
“You first, honey,” he said. “Are you and grandma okay?”  
“We’re fine. We were at home the whole time and nothing happened near us.”  
“Good.”  
“Well?” his daughter said, impatient. “What about you?”  
“Ah, well. I was nearby some of the fighting, and I got a little hurt, but I’ll be fine.”  
“Really? Does it hurt bad?”

“Drink,” Barnaby said, shoving the glass in his face.  
“Bunny! Can you stop nagging at me for five seconds so I can talk to my daughter?”  
“Bunny?” Kaede said as her father grabbed the glass. She leaned over, as if a different angle could get her a better view of the person that arm was attached to. “Daddy,” she said, a little bitter, “ _do you have a girlfriend_?”  
Kotetsu spat out the sip of water he’d begun, and Barnaby tripped a little on his way to a chair.  
“NO!” They shouted simultaneously.  
“Ah, ha...uh, Kaede-chan, I have a friend over who’s taking care of me. Look. I wanted to tall you that I really want to come over and see you and know you’re safe, but I have to take it easy for a while.”  
Barnaby hovered around the couch, just out of the sight of the telecamera, and observed the way Kaede’s expression softened.  
“I understand, Daddy. It’s not like it’s any different than usual.” She was completely sullen now, and there was a murmur in the background that sounded like she was possibly being gently scolded for saying so.  
“Like usual?” Barnaby said out loud.  
“Bunny-”  
“It’s okay,” Kaede said.  
“It’s not okay,” Barnaby said, sitting down next to Kotetsu.  
“Bunny! Hey! You don’t have permission to talk to my-”  
“Ms.Kaburagi,” Barnaby said, turning the phone towards himself, “Do you not see your father very much?”  
His only answer was a wide eyed stare. A jolt of panic ran through his body; he wondered where his lapse of judgement had occurred when this impulse had hit him.  
“Bunny,” Kotetsu growled.  
“B...Barnaby...Dad? Your friend is _Barnaby Brooks Jr_.?” she asked.  
Barnaby swallowed hard. “Ah. Sorry. I guess that’s a bit of a surprise,” he said, suddenly uncharacteristically flustered. “Yes, I’m a friend of your father’s. Sorry I didn’t introduce mysel-”  
And suddenly he recognized her face.

“Thanks...” Kotetsu said, joining Barnaby in the ice arena.  
“I don’t see why you should be thanking me,” he replied.

Kaede’s blush was visible through the screen above the phone. “M...Mr.Brooks...Sir...”  
“You can call me Barnaby, dear,” he said, and the last word made her blush even harder, now averting her eyes from the phone.  
"I'm... Kaede, please."  
“ _What_ did you want to tell her?” Kotetsu said, voice impatient, foot tapping. He didn’t like the looks Barnaby was getting from his precious daughter.  
“Oh. Kaede, I’ll make sure your dad gets home to see you tonight," he said, convicted.  
“What?” Father and daughter said.  
“And if his work gives him any problems about being away, I’ll tell them to leave him alone myself, okay?”  
“M...Mister Barnaby!” She shouted. “Thank you!”  
The way her face brightened gave both men pause.  
Barnaby was about to get up, when Kaede spoke again. “Mister Barnaby?” she asked.  
“Yes?”  
“Thank you for taking care of my daddy. Since I can’t.”

\---

Kotetsu’s eyes were still red, his cheeks still damp when they had packed his things and were heading out the door.  
“Are you going to be able to stop crying by the time you get there?”  
It was enough to set Kotetsu off again.  
“She’s such a sweet girl! She’s so thoughtful! She’s such a wonderful little girl!” he cried, wiping his face with his sleeve. Barnaby’s heart was not made of stone- he understood where the emotion was coming from. To see a little girl wanting to care for her father that much, even when he was never there for her...  
“Shut up already, Kotetsu-san,” Barnaby said, unlocking his car.  
He didn’t want to be driving with tears in his eyes, too.

Kotetsu never asked why Barnaby had suddenly demanded to bring him home to see his daughter. Barnaby was thankful for this, because he didn’t want to explain it to him–  
Barnaby wasn’t proud of what he’d become after all these years of missing his father. He hoped she’d fare better.

\---

It wasn’t until after Kotetsu had been dropped off, and Barnaby had made it all the way back home, when he realized that, yes. He’d confirmed that he was, in fact, Kotetsu’s _friend_.

Well.

The old man was probably going to be using that in his defense for a while. Simultaneous to that thought, he shrugged off the notion that maybe he was getting closer to being a person he _was_ proud of being, and he locked the car and made his way up to his apartment.

No. The old man certainly wouldn’t have had anything to do with _that._


End file.
